Statement by U.S. Secretary of Labor Scalia on the January Jobs Report

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia issued the following statement on the January 2020 Employment Situation Report:

“January’s jobs report far surpassed expectations with a surge of 225,000 jobs created. 

“For the 23rd consecutive month, the unemployment rate was at or below 4%. At 3.6%, the unemployment rate ticked up slightly as more Americans entered the labor force. The labor force participation rate moved up to the highest point since 2013.

“Wages have increased by 3% or more for 18 consecutive months after December revisions and another strong performance in January. Production and non-supervisory wages increased even faster than managers’, continuing the blue collar boom.

“Today, BLS also released the annual benchmark revisions, and the readjusted number of jobs created since January 2017 is 6.6 million. After today’s report and revisions from November and December, the trends in the economy are clearly positive.

“The signing of USMCA and Phase I of the China agreement in January establish a strong foundation for further expansion this year.”